


Card Games and Chocobros

by Houseplant



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, No shipping, Origins Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 08:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Houseplant/pseuds/Houseplant
Summary: What should have been a silly question reveals that the bros have been more suspicious of their blonde tag-a-long than they've ever let on.





	Card Games and Chocobros

“Out of all your friends, who do you think's the most likely to be a double-agent?” Gladio read off the question, the light from his mobile phone casting a blue light upon his face. The approaching night was balmy, and the haven a short walk away, yet not a soul had wanted to vacate the regalia. The car was starting to feel more like home than the city they had left, for the time they spent in it.

 

The hunts for the day had run dry, and the nearest hotel was far too many hours of driving out to chance before the daemons came, and for once they were well-stocked on supplies. There was little else to do but wait til dinner time, so a game was in order.

 

Without missing a beat, Prompto piped up with, “Iggy!” at exactly the moment Noctis said, “Prompto,” earning a wounded look from the blonde.

 

“Dude! _Really??”_ Prompto was incredulous, staring at Noctis with wide eyes, affronted. “C'mon, Iggy even has an _accent_. How are you not suspicious of that?”  
  
  
“Well uh...,” Noctis had the decency to look away, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. “I was uh... kinda going with... your origins? Like... the whole... Nif-Thing?”

 

There was a sharp intake of breath, and then _silence_. No one dared break it, a tense aura settling about the car.

 

It was broken after what had to be a full one hundred and twenty seconds, or an _eternity_ , in silence's currency. “You... You _knew_?” Prompto's voice had taken on a breathy whine, an obvious tinge of panic to it.

 

Ever the emotional diplomat, Noctis replied with a simple, “Yeah.”

 

When that monosyllable didn't seem to assuage the blonde's panic demon, Gladio gruffly added, “You had to be vetted to join the Crownsguard, remember?”  
  
  
“Yeah but...” Prompto paused, biting his lower lip. “They were....” forged, and he and his folks knew it, but everyone they had ever met hadn't questioned it.  
  
  
“Forgeries,” Ignis finished the thought before Prompto could, sounding unfairly calm. “Expertly done, and they almost fooled even me.”  
  
  
“Almost?” Prompto squeaked, and hated himself for it. Here was his worst secret, out in the open, and _no one else_ was freaking out about it.

 

“Indeed.”  
  
  
“Uh...” Prompto began, but Noctis finished for him; “You gonna tell us _how_ , Specs?”

 

“I wasn't quite planning on it,” Ignis stated calmly, tightening the fasten on his gloves. “But if you insist, it was the weight of your papers. The hospital that you've lodged your records at, uses a much flimsier style. Yours were a few ounces heavier than your standard ream of copier paper.”

  
“That's... _it_?” Prompto asked, curiosity shoving anxiety to the side for a moment. “I thought you were gonna say like, Insomnia was misspelled or like, it wasn't the right seal for that hospital.”

 

“An egregious mistake like that would have had you taken out of public school,” Ignis deadpanned.  
  
  
“Huh? What! Why?”  
  
  
Gladio chuckled, “ 'Cause Iggy there had to go through _everyone's_ records when it was decided the prince would be attending, and he was adamant that he wouldn't miss a single detail.”  
  
  
“That was the summer Specs completely disappeared, I thought Dad had fired him or something. I was _so upset_ ,” Noctis laughed into his hand, hiding a grin. “I was just a kid back then. Didn't really understand what he was doing.”

 

Prompto seemed to have missed the memo that made everything so funny to _everyone else_ in the astrals-damned car, so he brought the topic back to _what made sense_. Or... rather, _made absolutely no sense_ ; “So... you guys _knew_? This whole time!? And you didn't... like... _tell me_?”

 

“Wasn't important,” Noctis replied with a shrug.

 

“Not impor--” For the second time that evening, Prompto granted Noctis with the most incredulous look. “ _You're_ the one who said you thought I was a double-agent, and now you're saying _not important_?? Dude!”

 

“Yeah... still not important,” Noctis was utterly nonplussed, holding his hand out for Gladio to give him the phone, and swiping through the app to get to the next question.

 

Prompto, however, was not ready to let it go that easily. “ _What?”_

_  
_ “I believe what Noctis means to say, is that there has never been any danger from you,” Ignis supplied.

 

Before Prompto could ask _how_ they knew that, Gladio cut in, “A detail of Kingsglaive followed you for three months after you first approached Noctis. They even _tried_ to find something suspicious to report about you, but decided you were just a lonely kid back then.”

 

“And definitely not a spy?” Prompto winced at how small his voice sounded, but he _had_ to know.

 

“Most definitely not,” Ignis replied.

 

“At least not consciously,” Noctis added, not looking up from the phone. The conversation at hand obviously did not demand his full attention.

 

“And if you are a sleeper agent and decide you suddenly want Noct to be your target practice, I'm supposed to snap your neck. Or other body part.”

 

“Uh..... _thanks_?” Prompto wasn't certain if Gladio was joking or not, and suddenly the car was feeling just a _tad_ too claustrophobic. “Can we uh... go set up camp now?”

 

“Yeah.” “Certainly.” “Sure”. The agreement was unanimous, and Prompto all but sprinted to the rune-marked rock, wondering if he was ever going to sleep again. They had _known_ and _said nothing_ \--

 

And he was _still_ certain that if any of them were to be a traitor, it'd be Ignis. No one was just _that_ perfect without some dastardly skeleton in their closet. No one!

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have a headcanon that Ignis has known about Prompto's heritage the entire time. It simply wouldn't DO to let some random stranger tag along around the Crown Prince without THOROUGHLY investigating them.


End file.
